HTLD vs. HUBG, JBHT, LSTR, MRTN, WERN, KNX, SNDR, HTZ, FRPH, and ODFL
Should you be buying Heartland Express stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Heartland Express include Hub Group (HUBG), J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT), Landstar System (LSTR), Marten Transport (MRTN), Werner Enterprises (WERN), Knight-Swift Transportation (KNX), Schneider National (SNDR), Hertz Global (HTZ), FRP (FRPH), and Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL).
Heartland Express vs. Its Competitors
Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) and Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and risk.
In the previous week, Heartland Express had 6 more articles in the media than Hub Group. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Heartland Express and 5 mentions for Hub Group. Hub Group's average media sentiment score of 1.61 beat Heartland Express' score of 1.16 indicating that Hub Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Hub Group has a net margin of 2.65% compared to Heartland Express' net margin of -3.85%. Hub Group's return on equity of 6.81% beat Heartland Express' return on equity.
Heartland Express has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hub Group has a beta of 1.15, meaning that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Hub Group has higher revenue and earnings than Heartland Express. Heartland Express is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hub Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
53.5% of Heartland Express shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.8% of Hub Group shares are held by institutional investors. 40.7% of Heartland Express shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Hub Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Heartland Express pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Hub Group pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Heartland Express pays out -17.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hub Group pays out 30.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.
Heartland Express currently has a consensus target price of $9.70, suggesting a potential upside of 15.48%. Hub Group has a consensus target price of $40.35, suggesting a potential upside of 9.61%. Given Heartland Express' higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Heartland Express is more favorable than Hub Group.
Summary
Hub Group beats Heartland Express on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding HTLD and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Heartland Express Competitors List
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This page (NASDAQ:HTLD) was last updated on 9/17/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
